1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunications and more specifically to personalizing what users hear when placed on hold.
2. Introduction
When a consumer purchases a product and something goes wrong with that product, one of the first resources the consumer turns to is calling customer service. When a consumer has a question about a bank statement, utility bill, etc., the consumer calls customer service. Toll-free customer service hotlines are commonplace. Some companies use automated systems to service consumer requests for information, while others rely on person to person communication. Non-automated person to person communication has a serious shortcoming that becomes obvious when more people are calling in than people taking calls. When this happens, consumers are typically placed on hold and asked to wait for the next available representative.
When a consumer is placed on hold, music is played. The music can be looped, but that leads to annoying repetition which can grate the nerves of an already irked consumer. The music may be fuzzy or scratchy, further annoying the consumer. Sometimes the consumer simply doesn't share the same musical taste as the person who selected the hold music or finds the hold music offensive.
From a marketing standpoint, the consumer on hold is a captive audience. The time is ripe for filling with some kind of productive or entertaining content other than content that simply fills a time gap before a customer service representative becomes available. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is an improved way of providing media for people waiting on hold.